


had to get you alone

by quillsandinkwells



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Summer Camp, Creepy Petyr Baelish, F/M, Jon and the Starks Are Not Related, Jon plays hockey are we really surprised, Sansa and Jon are both dweebs but what do we expect, aka the camp counselor AU no one asked for, but only for a sec
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-02
Updated: 2019-11-02
Packaged: 2021-01-16 20:34:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,270
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21277304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quillsandinkwells/pseuds/quillsandinkwells
Summary: A science camp and a hockey camp sharing the same space? Revolutionary. This small college is about to heat up with more than the rising summer temperatures as Sansa gets overprotective and Jon's done with just about everything.What happens at camp stays at camp...or does it?





	had to get you alone

**Author's Note:**

> Somewhat inspired by actual shenanigans on staff during my two summers as a camp counselor.
> 
> Title from Cassadee Pope’s ‘Take You Home’.

It all started in the dining hall of White Harbor College.

At least, that’s what Sansa would realize later. At the time, she was mostly pissed, because sweet little Tommen Baratheon—a good kid who already had to deal with his horrid older brother also at camp—was practically terrorized on the open field just after breakfast by some of those boys from the hockey camp. Tommen wasn’t part of her normal crew of thirteen-year old girls, but his counselor, Sam Tarly, caught a nasty bout of the BioChem Plague, and she had taken over his group until he got better. That made him one of hers.

Later that day, as she talked it all over with the camp maester, she gained a slightly different perspective on the situation. But right then? She didn’t care.

“Which one of you has Meryn and Osmund?” Sansa stormed over to the hockey camp’s table of counselors. Gods, they didn’t even watch their kids during meals. She and her fellow staff members always had someone sitting with their kids to make sure wild things didn’t happen.

“That would be me.” A gruff voice said from the end of the table. Sansa narrowed her eyes at the dark-haired young man in the same gray “White Harbor Hockey” shirt as the rest of the boys at the table.

“I need to speak with you about their behavior.” Sansa crossed her arms at the way he rolled his eyes and took his time getting up from his seat.

“C’mon, outside so you don’t make more of a scene.” He said, leading her out the side door of the dining hall. Sansa glanced back and only felt a slight twinge of guilt for the stares she got from the hockey side of the dining hall. Her girls and Sam’s group were under the care of their instructors at lunch, so it hadn’t been too difficult to slip away. When they got outside, he stopped in the shade of the building. “So, what’ve they done now?”

“What have they done now???” It felt like her voice rose three octaves. How could he be so laissez-faire about poor behavior from his boys? “They only terrorized a sweet little boy after breakfast today, pushing him down and threatening to come after him if he got in the way of their frisbee game again! Tommen’s a good kid—he wasn’t doing anything wrong beyond reading while he was walking.” Sansa brushed back a piece of hair that came out of her braid. “Look, I get it. We’re the ‘nerd camp’, and middle-schoolers are cruel anyways, so of course there will be trash-talk. But this isn’t the first time one of my kids has had an issue with your boys. They take it from teasing to cruel, and frankly physical violence is the last straw!”

He ran a hand through his curly dark hair and Sansa tried to read his facial expression. “Look, I’m sorry about the boys. I’ll bring it up with our Director.”

Was that it? One measly ‘I’ll talk with the director’ which he probably wouldn’t even do? Damn hockey players. “Fine. If that’s all you can do, thanks for the chat.” Sansa rolled her eyes as she turned around and stormed back into the dining hall. She shot a nasty look to the hockey camp staff as she made her way back to her staff table, where Gilly and Margaery looked concerned.

“Did you actually go and confront those nasty little shits’ counselor?” Gilly asked as she sipped her water.

“I did.” Sansa was a little pleased at the looks of pride they gave her. “But he was useless—gave me some bullshit excuse and looked bored the whole time.”

“Well what do you expect from the sports camp?” Margaery laughed a little. Sansa took a bite of the brownie she abandoned when she saw the hockey camp arrive in the dining hall. What did she expect, indeed.

* * *

“Did you just get chewed out by the hot ginger?” Grenn nearly cackled as Jon got back to the staff table. Meal times were usually his favorite, because they actually got to hang out as a staff, but this seemed like it wasn’t going to be a good one.

“Trant and Kettleblack are being little shits again.” He huffed. “Pushed some kid down or something. I’ll bring it up to Thorne.” Everyone grimaced, probably both because of Trant and Kettleblack and because of their asshole boss. The whole staff couldn’t stand the two boys—they were notorious bullies the past two years, and the veteran staff members had warned the newcomers about the two during training—and of course Jon, newcomer extraordinaire, got them both. He was convinced Thorne hated his very existence.

There was actually fairly solid evidence for that very fact, considering Thorne had a habit of either ignoring Jon completely, or giving him the worst duties possible. He had night watch three times this week alone. This visit to Thorne’s office was sure to ensure something else got added to his plate. And considering everyone knew how Thorne got along with Trant’s father—the sole reason Little Shit 1 still came back every year—it was likely the boys would just get a slap on the wrist.

“Enjoy night watch for the rest of camp, then.” Pyp said.

Pyp was wrong, because Jon didn’t get night watch for the rest of eternity, but he did get it office duty that afternoon with Baelish, which may almost be worse. Not only did he not get to be on the ice, but he had to take parent calls and listen to Baelish’s creepy observations of every female that existed. Thank god he was at a boy’s-only camp, because Baelish was the guy who would definitely make weird comments to the campers. Jon, to say the least, was over it.

“And that science camp…well, mostly you think of the intellectual type as geeky, but most of their young ladies are the exact opposite.” Jon rolled his eyes as Baelish moved on from the hot moms of their boys. “You talked to one today, Snow, didn’t you? The redhead reminded me of a girl I used to know.” Baelish chuckled, sighing in a way that creeped Jon out. “She was a sweet little thing, wasn’t she?”

“Uh, yeah.” Please let the phone ring. Or maybe let the maester need his assistance. “She was pretty.” At the time, Jon hadn’t been thinking about how pretty she was, but afterwards he certainly noticed. She was gorgeous in her righteous anger, though a part of him hoped he got to talk to her when she wasn’t ready to toss him in the lake. “It was her camper that Trant and Kettleblack were bullying. That’s why she was talking to me.”

“Hmmm. I’m sure it was just a misunderstanding. Women—and especially little girls—can be so dramatic.” He said.

Jon almost cried with relief when the maester called him from across the hall. He would take running a kid to the doctor over sitting with Baelish for even ten more minutes.

* * *

Sansa liked night duty. It was nice and quiet for once and allowed her a bit of space outside her room to think as she wandered the halls and outside the dormitory where their kids were housed. She was technically on with Renly, but she sent him off for the last couple of rounds; he didn’t ask her to, but his boyfriend Loras had also succumbed to the BioChem Plague, and Sansa knew Renly wanted to check on him for a little while. She wasn’t technically supposed to make the outdoor rounds herself, but Sansa knew this campus, had all the emergency numbers she could need, and frankly just needed a bit of time to herself.

She kept turning her angry words to that hockey counselor over and over in her head. He really wasn’t as obnoxious as she thought, and even if he had been, well…she’d been a bit of a bitch. Sansa had talked with Maester Luwin and Old Nan earlier when she was on duty with their office, and while they both agreed she had a right to be angry and protective, she should have been more tempered in her confrontation, and maybe actually found out his view on the whole situation. The ball of guilt in her stomach had mostly faded but thinking over the whole thing made it flare up again. She turned the corner between her building and the one where the hockey camp lived and pulled the sleeves of her oversized sweater down a little as she checked the windows. The days were pleasant with the sea breeze, but the nights could get chilly. All lights were out, which was a good sign, and only ten minutes left on her watch.

Of course, as she fully rounded the corner, Sansa came face-to-face to the very person she had just been thinking about. She shrieked and jumped back, hands shaking as her heart raced.

“Are you okay?” He came to a halt, holding his hands up as if to say ‘no harm’. “I didn’t mean to scare you, just doing rounds.”

Sansa took a couple of deep breaths. In through your nose, out through your mouth. “You’re okay. Just didn’t expect to see anyone out here.” She brushed a bit of hair away that flew in her face. “I’m also doing rounds.” Now that they were standing closer and she wasn’t yelling at him, she saw he was quite handsome. His hair was down, instead of back in a bun like earlier, and he had on a Direwolves Hockey sweatshirt. That was the team her whole family supported, so he was either from the North as well or just really liked Northern hockey. “I’m…um, I’m sorry for causing a scene earlier today. I just care a lot about my kids, and Tommen’s already going through so much with his horrid older brother giving him shit on a daily basis, and I was just done. But I shouldn’t have been so rude to you.” She fiddled with the cuffs of her sweater as she looked up to meet his eyes.

“Apology accepted.” He nodded. “I did tell my boss about it, but he’s about as much of an asshole as those two, so not going to lie, I really doubt anything will happen.”

She sighed, not really expecting much better. “I’m Sansa, by the way.” She stuck out her hand and he shook it.

“Jon.” He smiled. “Do you, uh, go to school here also?” Sansa had never seen him around, but she didn’t see many non-science majors.

“Yeah, about to be a junior in atmospheric science. Hence why I’m working at the science camp.” Sansa let out a little laugh.

"I’m studying history, not hockey.” Jon gave her a little smile as she rolled her eyes good-naturedly. “C’mon, you walked right into that one.”

“Yes, yes, I did totally think you were studying hockey.” She said. He seemed to pick up on her sarcasm, which Sansa appreciated. Her phone beeped, drawing her attention away. It was Renly. “Oh, not Alysanne.”

“Everything okay?”

“Renly, the other person on night duty, found one of mine ill in the bathroom. She didn’t feel great after dinner, but I thought it was just one too many brownies.” Sansa sighed. Alysanne was a sweet girl, but definitely a little rambunctious, and she liked to do things her own way. And Sansa really didn’t like dealing with pukers. “I need to get back inside and wake the maester. But, um, see you around?”

Jon smiled back at her, which relieved that knot of tension in her gut. “See you around.”

Sansa definitely wasn’t thinking about his smile the entire walk to the infirmary. And Renly certainly didn’t ask her why she was blushing while they sat on the hallway floor and waited for Luwin to clear them to go to bed, and being the rules-follower that she was, Sansa did not think about ways to run into him again. Not at all.

* * *

The next time Jon had a chance to talk to her, it was his day off. It had been a great one so far—he got to sleep in, and then figured he’d go for coffee at his usual haunt during the school year, which was just a short walk from campus. But after walking into _Black & Brew _and ordering, Jon did not expect to see a familiar redhead waiting for her order.

Part of Jon was elated. He would see Sansa around campus, shepherding crews of middle-schoolers around campus or running various types of events—she led yoga for a bunch of kids on the back lawn the evening before, and it took all of his self-control to only watch for a minute or two—but there hadn’t been a chance to speak without a huge public scene. The other part of him just felt awkward because what should he do now? He decided just to bite the bullet and said hello, which got him a happy greeting in response. She was pretty all the time, but had dressed up a bit more today, wearing a flowy blue dress. She made the camp counselor look work of course, but he got the sense that this dressier look was very Sansa.

“Funny that we have the same day off.” Sansa said. Whatever coincidence/twist-of-fate/divine blessing it was, Jon was certainly thankful for it.

“Since we’re both here and all, want to grab a table together?” He asked as their names were called. When she smiled and agreed, Jon did an inner fist-pump and directed them towards one of his favorite corners of the place, where the chairs were comfortable and out of the way from the counter. “This is one of my favorite coffee shops. I’m in here far too often.”

“I’m not a coffee person so I’ve never been,” She laughed at the face Jon was sure he made, “but I’m always down for a good tea or hot chocolate. Plus, one of my colleagues said she loved this place, so I had to check it out.”

After the pleasantries were dispensed, the two fell into conversation about…well, everything. Jon had never met someone he ‘clicked’ so well with right off the bat. They discussed easy things—from debating favorite movies (Sansa was determined to introduce him to crappy Christmas movies), to television (Jon had a habit of watching trashy reality shows when he procrastinated), to books (both loved the classics)—but eventually the deeper stuff got mixed in. Jon found himself telling her how difficult it had been when his father decided to reappear in his life after 18 years of silence, something he didn’t share beyond his mother and closest friends. He was touched when Sansa shared how her ex, Harry, had wreaked havoc on her self-confidence with his constant criticisms and cheating. It was all…comfortable between them.

They found themselves at the coffee shop for hours before Sansa suggested grabbing dinner, “Because it’s food truck night at the park!” Food trucks turned into a walk in the park, strolling in the lingering summer twilight. Jon treated Sansa to his favorite ice cream vendor, and Sansa showed him one of her usual study spots by the river as they headed back to campus. “It’s a secret spot, though, so you can’t bring anyone else here.” Sansa laughed, her eyes twinkling.

Jon had never thought he could be ‘smooth’, but as he grabbed her hand, he felt a little like that. “So it’s a place just for us, then.”

“You’re such a flirt!” Sansa rolled her eyes and laughed.

“No, I’m not.”

“Yes, you are!”

“Being a flirt implies I flirt with lots of girls. Which I don’t.” Jon smiled inside at the blush that came over Sansa and the little ‘well then’ she halfway said under her breath. She also kept holding his hand, which he was infinitely satisfied with.

* * *

It was well past dark when they finally made it back onto campus. Sansa was delighted with how this day off had turned out—she had intended to go for a coffee and maybe check out the bookshop, but then everything had changed. Jon was…unlike any other guy she had met. She liked that they could talk books and hockey, that he listened when she talked about weather patterns, and how his eyes lit up when he talked about the kings of the past. And, he was delightfully awkward enough that she was pretty sure he was no Harry.

They ended up taking the super long route back from dinner, stopping for a bit at her favorite spot by the river to watch the sun set. After the nighttime chill had really set in, Jon had given his leather jacket to Sansa, which she was currently enveloped in as they made their way onto the outskirts of campus.

“One more detour.” Jon said, turning them right instead of to the left, which would take them back to the dormitories.

“The football stadium?” Sansa asked. “Why on earth are we here?”

He gave her a half smile and shrugged as he led them in a side gate. “This is my favorite spot.” They stopped and sat at the 50-yard line, about halfway up. The best seats in the house. “I come out here sometimes to think.”

“It’s so still.” Sansa had sat in bleachers like these watching her little brothers play the game, but never like this; where the lights were on, but no one was there to cheer on the teams as they played. The next thought made her chuckle a little, causing Jon to ask what she was thinking as his thumb stroked the back of her hand. “You know, if this was the set of one of those bad Christmas movies I was telling you about earlier, this is where the big romantic climax would happen. On the 50-yard line, with everyone bundled in sweaters, and the perfect amount of snow would gently be falling.” She blushed a little and looked down. Gods, she hoped he didn’t think she was trying to force a move. Not that she wouldn’t welcome one, because she would.

She felt a hand at her chin and lifted it to meet Jon’s unreadable gaze. “We’re not in sweaters and there isn’t snow, but I think it’ll do if you do.”

“I think it’s perf—” was all Sansa got out before he swooped in to kiss her. It started off tentative, but then quickly deepened as the pair resolved to find out exactly everything about kissing the other. Needless to say, it was much later when they finally got back to their separate dormitories. Sansa snuck back upstairs in the hope that no one would see her, hair all terribly mussed from its perfect ponytail by Jon’s hands, and the possible beginning of beard burn on her jawline.

Jon ran into his fellow counselors right as he walked in, and promptly got a ribbing from all of them because they had all been watching as ‘you and the smokin’ ginger said goodbye in a not-safe-for-children way’. He managed to duck away before they got too rowdy, though he was pretty sure Baelish had been listening in on their conversation. But all of that flew out of his mind as he and Sansa spent the next couple of hours texting before they both fell asleep.

This could only be the beginning of something great.

And it was. 


End file.
